Forest Songs: Mukilteo Community Orchestra Kicks Off the Season with a Celebration of Nature
The sounds of the forest will come alive in Mukilteo this fall as the Mukilteo Community Orchestra opens its 2025–26 concert season with Forest Songs, a performance inspired by nature’s beauty and mystery. The free concert will take place on Sunday, November 9 at 2:00 p.m. at the Rosehill Community Center.
This year’s season theme, Natural Selections, draws on classical works that reflect the natural world through sound. The program includes pieces by Ottorino Respighi, Claude Debussy, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and contemporary composer Jordan Jinosko.
A Journey Through Forests, Clouds, and Songbirds
The concert will open with the MCO Woodwind Quintet performing Dance Suite by Paul Valjean — a rare gem written in 1955 during the composer’s time at the Eastman School of Music.
Next, the full orchestra will bring to life Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (Op. 20a), performing the Opening Scene, Dance of the Swans, and Hungarian Folk Dance. First performed in 1877, Swan Lake became one of the most beloved ballets in history, alongside Tchaikovsky’s later masterpiece The Nutcracker.
The program continues with Debussy’s Nocturnes (L 98), movement I, Clouds. Inspired by painter James McNeill Whistler, Debussy creates a floating, atmospheric soundscape that drifts and shifts like the sky itself.
Audiences will then experience Tales from the Aviary, a modern work by American composer Jordan Jinosko. Written in three movements — Entering the Garden, Hymn to the Birds, and On the Wing — the piece reflects the composer’s passion for the natural world and her concern for bird species threatened by climate change.
A Grand Finale in Rome
The concert will close with Respighi’s iconic Pines of Rome (P 141), movement IV: Pines of the Appian Way. This powerful finale evokes the triumphant march of the Roman army returning home, ending the afternoon on a soaring note.
A Community Tradition
The concert is free and open to the public. MCO’s performances are co-sponsored by the City of Mukilteo and held at Rosehill Community Center, 304 Lincoln Ave., Mukilteo.
For more information about upcoming concerts and the full season lineup, visit https://mukilteoorchestra.org
